3 confess to crime in kidney racket case

The infamous kidney racket case of Gurgaon took a new turn on Saturday when three accused finally admitted to their guilt. Giyasuddin, Mohammad Shahid and Manoj Kumar had told about their intentions to confess to the crime earlier also but this time they finally did it.

On September 5, 2012, they had submitted that they were frustrated and under depression due to long custody in the jail that was why they wanted to give confessional statements. But when their turn came on November 8, 2012, they refused to confess to the crime.

Giyasuddin and Shahid were allegedly middlemen in the racket and used to bring donors while Manoj Kumar was allegedly a laboratory technician at the hospital in Gurgaon where kidneys used to be transplanted illegally by doctors, including Dr Amit Kumar Raut.

The racket had surfaced on January 24, 2008, when Uttar Pradesh and Gurgaon polices raided a house at Sector 22 in Gurgaon. Many people were allegedly lured for kidney donations and were allegedly paid between Rs 50,000 and Rs 70,000. The CBI said the kidneys were then allegedly sold between Rs 8 lakh and 10 lakh each.

During the trial, the Punjab and Haryana high court had also taken suo motu notice and asked the CBI to investigate into the allegations of pressuring the witnesses in the case by some of the accused. The CBI have registered a FIR in the case too. The suo motu notice was taken when an accused Dr Upinder Kumar had written to the high court that other accused were pressuring the witnesses.